cassie howard and the male gaze
Cassie is showing the damage not having a stable father figure and understanding between love and lust can do to a person. Cassie is shown to be very sexual but not in the way Maddy is, maddy understands how to use her sex as power she also knows what it means to men. Show by the fact she lied to Nate telling him she was a virgin making him feel as if he was in control. Cassie on the other hand is know for being sexual and sleeping guys claiming to love her. She is so trusting of these men she gets herself pregnet in the first season of the show. This to me show what not having that proper father in your life can do to you. Cassie never had a loving father to explain what real love from a guy was like. cassie mother was still bitter from her father leaving so she never showed her daughter the right way to love. When can even see this in lexi. Lexi isnt as confident about her sex life or body, cassie uses sex as a way to cope and lexi uses anything but sex. After see her father drunk she is afraid of men and what they can do. Cassie always tried to see the best in their dad while lexi saw the reality.
And probably the most famous and most obvious example of Cassie effort to please the male gaze come to her 4 am beauty routine. we see Cassie try to emulate both Jules and Maddy to win Nate never really showing her true self. She gives him everything he could want, and he still longs over Jules and Maddy, this proves my point that even if you clean yourself up and dress for a man you cannot hide your brokenness and lack of depth.
